A number of medical and cosmetic conditions involve deficiencies of body fat. A body fat deficiency can be diffuse or concentrated on particular part(s) of the body, e.g., the head, face (e.g., cheeks, chin, jaw, lips), limbs (e.g., arms, hands, thighs, legs), and/or torso (e.g., chest, breast, abdomen, buttocks). A body fat deficiency can be due, for example, to loss of body fat (e.g., atrophy, lipoatrophy, wasting, degeneration, fibrosis, fat removal, trauma), failure of body fat to develop (e.g., aplasia, hypoplasia), and/or movement of fat away from a body part of interest (e.g., migration, descent, involution). Some causes of body fat deficiency include disease, metabolic state, medications, medical procedures, and trauma. Furthermore, a number of medical and cosmetic conditions can benefit from an increase in body fat even where a body fat deficiency does not exist. For example, skin wrinkles or loose skin can be ameliorated and/or treated by an increase of body fat underneath or near the skin wrinkles. Individuals dissatisfied with the appearance, size, or contour of body part(s), e.g., breast, buttocks, lips, face, and/or cheeks, can benefit from an increase in body fat in or near the body part(s).
A number of surgical methods have been developed to ameliorate and/or treat the above conditions. For example, adipose or other tissue can be extracted or liberated from one part of the body and redeposited in another (e.g., autologous fat transplantation). Likewise, tissue can be transplanted from a live human, cadaveric, or nonhuman donor. Space-occupying synthetic materials (e.g., silicone, saline, Restylane®, Juvederm®, Perlane®) can be deposited into or near a body part of interest. Generally, the above methods are invasive and can cause pain, scars, fibrosis, infection, inflammation, foreign body reaction, post-procedural deformity or regression, implant migration, and other adverse reactions.
Therefore, there is a need for new pharmaceutical compositions and methods for locally increasing fat in a body of a subject.